City Editor, The Age

The strike is expected to be one of the largest held by teachers in Victoria, with close to 200 schools shut down for the day as education staff converge on Parliament just after midday.

Tim Piper, Victorian director of the Australian Industry Group, said employers would be forced in large part to underwrite the cost of the industrial action, by paying for many employees who would not be at work.

"Some people with young children in particular will have to take time off," Mr Piper said.

He said the best scenario for most parents who wanted to go to work was that they found an alternative way of looking after their children.

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"But there will be many who have to take part of the day or all of the day off," Mr Piper said.

He said that, providing there was appropriate evidence, it might be possible for many parents to take carer's leave.

"And that makes it a cost to the company – they lose an employee, they lose productivity, and if they replace that employee it's a cost. Irrespective, the company is going to pay for this strike."

Gail McHardy, executive officer with Parents Victoria, which represents parents at government schools, said that because the dispute had been going on for some time, "parents are pretty well aware of what's happening".

"We just want the dispute to end," she said, adding that she believed parents were "predominantly quite supportive" of teachers, and the original push by the Australian Education Union to make them the nation's best paid.

Richard Clancy, executive director of industry policy at the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said many parents would use time in lieu or bring forward leave they would have preferred to instead use for extended holidays.

Mr Clancy said he did not believe carers leave would be an option for employees, meaning they would have to either take annual leave or unpaid time.

"If they are not at work, or their work day is altered in some way, they are less productive and their colleagues are less productive," he said.

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